PORTLAND (AP) – Heavy reliance on National Guard troops in Iraq and elsewhere could interfere with the Guard’s ability to respond to natural disasters and security threats at home, a report prepared for Congress said.

More than half the entire Army National Guard has been activated since Sept. 11, 2001, when President Bush declared a state of emergency. That pace may be unsustainable and could leave states without the specialists they need, the Government Accounting Office report said.

“That certainly puts a strain on personnel and a strain on equipment in that we don’t have as much,” said Maj. Peter Rogers, spokesman for the Maine Army National Guard. “It leaves us short-handed with equipment.”

When the study was conducted, Maine ranked second in the nation in the percentage of total Army National Guard troops on alert or mobilized. About 60 percent of its soldiers, or 1,300 individuals, were under federal command.

The number of troops back from the Middle East are enough to respond to any emergency, Rogers said.

The accounting office’s report, which was presented to Congress last week, focused on the use of the National Guard since Sept. 11, 2001, and the impact on its mission to respond to domestic emergencies and meet new homeland security responsibilities.

The report concludes: “equipment and personnel may not be available to the states when they are needed because they have been deployed overseas.”

Maine’s high deployment rate reflects the strong demand for the specialties of its units: transportation, engineers and medical.

But changes in store for the Guard may have less impact in Maine than in other states, Rogers said.

He said Maine should have an easy time adapting to plans to make the Guard more compatible so units from one area of the country can be easily assimilated in other parts.

AP-ES-05-05-04 0932EDT